1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to network computer systems and, more particularly, to searching content of network document databases with a search query interface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer systems can store tremendous amounts of data that can be searched to identify and retrieve pertinent information. Data stored in a computer database is very useful when it is shared over a network with many users who can gain access to the data via computer programs known as search engines. A conventional example of a large network database is the collection of data files loosely referred to as the Internet. The Internet includes data files comprising documents that contain text, audio, and video information.
A user typically accesses the Internet database through a graphical user interface (GUI) program called a web browser. An Internet search engine can receive a user search query specifying search terms and can consult a database index to find documents relevant to the search terms. A user accesses an Internet search engine by directing the user""s web browser to a search engine website and providing a search query to the search engine. The query typically comprises a string of relevant terms comprising words and phrases connected by optional Boolean operators. After the user submits the query to the search engine, a computer at the search engine website that receives the query matches it to a collection of indexed Internet documents or files, and returns search results comprising a list of the matched Internet documents. It is not unusual for an Internet search engine to match tens of thousands of documents (or more) to the search query.
Because the many thousands of document matches typically returned can easily overwhelm a user, and because many of the matches returned are usually not especially relevant to the information being sought, a user typically reduces the number of match documents by modifying the search query with additional search terms or more specific terms, or both, thereby refining the query. The process of refining the search query is typically one of trial and error and can be a very laborious task. It may be necessary to formulate many successive search queries, comprising strings of terms and phrases. Time to carry out the searches and receive results may be too high, and interruptions in network access can add to the frustration.
Once a user constructs a useful search query, the user may want to repeat the query at a later time. This need occurs, for example, either because the earlier search results must be reviewed or because the search results must be updated due to database additions and modifications. Repeating a search query may require duplication of a rather complicated string of terms and phrases, which might have been laboriously created and which can be quite difficult to reconstruct. Thus, reuse of search queries is rather limited and inconvenient.
In addition to reuse of search queries, it may be helpful to share search queries with multiple users. Sharing of search queries would maximize group efforts to find information of interest and to develop optimal search strategies. It may be possible to save a search query as a string of alphanumeric text that is saved in user memory. The saved search query could be called up later, to be retrieved into the search user interface program and submitted to the search engine. This technique saves the search query, but not the search results. Moreover, this does nothing to make sharing search queries and search results among multiple users more convenient.
From the discussion above, it should be apparent that there is a need for a database search system and method that can efficiently permit reuse of search queries and facilitate sharing of search strategies. The present invention fulfills this need.
The present invention provides a system and method for associating a label and description with a search query such that the query, label, and description can be stored in a shared query repository such that queries can be retrieved by multiple users for reuse. The shared query repository can be searched, so that an appropriate query can be located, retrieved, and then submitted for execution over a document database to identify relevant documents. Queries retrieved from the repository can be combined with other retrieved queries or modified with new search terms, and the new combined search query can be used for a new search on the database. Thus, search of a document database as well as of a shared search query repository is enabled. In this way, the present invention provides a database search system and method that can efficiently permit reuse of search queries and facilitate sharing of search strategies.
In one aspect of the invention, a convenient graphical user interface provides access to search query submission, search query searching, and document retrieval functions. The search to query submission, search query searching, and document retrieval can occur over a network computer system, such as the Internet, a corporate intranet, or other computer networks that permit multiple users to share data and computer resources. A query repository stores search queries according to query label and description, and also communicates with the network, while a search session management component controls access to the database of searched documents and to the label/query description pairs. The database of searched documents can comprise, for example, the Internet. This permits efficient reuse of search queries and sharing of database search strategies.
Other features and advantages of the present invention should be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.